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Showing posts from September, 2012

Blog Hop! Link Up

I think I might be spending today in Santa Fe.

Getting to Know My Family...Oh Dear!

Day 2 in Perth, WA Heard a concerning sound while eating my cinnamon raisin toast for breakfast this morning. Birds here sound like car alarms and laughing monkeys, but it didn't quite seem like a bird. Was it Lucy, the dog? Was something wrong with her? Whatever could it be?? Actually, it was my Seychellois grandpa ("Papa") singing in the shower. Sexy Nerd also pointed out to me that Papa's ears wiggle when he talks. Bizarre!

BLOG HOP! Increase Traffic To Your Site

After a long week of feeling sick, getting over insomnia and jetlag, and getting a TWO HOUR braces adjustment (eep!), let's end on a high note and party it up with another Not "Baaad" Sundays blog hop! Remember, this is not just another run-of-the-mill linky. 1. This blog hop is open to all posts that you are proud of. Did you recently post about a great decorating project, craft, or recipe? That's wonderful if you did, but just fine if you didn't. I just want you to link to a post or posts you are proud of. 2. Do you ever find yourself trying not to duplicate posts on blog hops but aren't quite sure what you posted the previous weeks? Problem solved! The Linky from today will return in the future, making it easy to see what you've posted before (and giving you a 2nd chance to visit any great posts you may have missed!) Good times, right? Of course, I do ask that you link directly to your post and include a photo from that post , not just your bl

Still Alive, Thankyouverymuch

Pinterest gold, right here. We broke up our flight to Australia with a few nights in Hawaii, which eased us into our new time zone so gently that neither of us suffered any jet lag. This was much to the surprise of my family members in Australia, who had expected us to be zombies. Traveling home from Australia, however, we went straight from Sydney to Albuquerque. You know, with several hours to kill stuck inside the Nadi, Fiji airport and LAX. 34+ hours without sleep. Home at midnight. Back to work immediately. Add in the fun bonus of a cold I seem to have caught while flying and you have one grouchy, headachey, TIRED space cadet. Plus, don't forget my idiopathic insomnia . That's right. In addition to not being able to sleep on any of our flights, including the 10 hour overnighter, I have barely been able to sleep since we returned home. Over a week ago! Which brings me (finally) to the point of this post. The other night I didn't nod off until almost 4am

Shrimp Pasta Recipe

The following post is courtesy of my childhood best friend and guest blogger extraordinaire, Feisty Fatale . Check out her blog for more yummy recipes! I love shrimp. The whole world knows I love shrimp, and there's even a famous fight in my family history about shrimp (me vs. my mom). Unfortunately, it isn't the cheapest ingredient to work with. If you buy raw, shells on shrimp you can reduce the cost. I bought a bag of frozen raw shrimp with the top and bottom shells on for $17 at Kroger (cheapo grocery store in Richmond/southern Va), and was able to make 3 meals out of it, for 2 people each time. 6 meals overall, making the cost less than $3 a meal. Pretty good right? And then I found this recipe, which uses by products of the recipe as ingredients (meaning you don't have to buy them!). This recipe is super cheap to make (minus that initial cost of shrimp) and more importantly, it's delicious. It will make you feel like a seasoned chef too. :)   Shrimp P

Blog Hop! Link Up Your Favorites

Back from a slight, unintentional hiatus! Sorry for the couple of skipped weekends, everyone. We spent the last 3 weeks in Hawaii and Australia (and technically Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Fiji, and Samoa too - world traveler style!) Being the kind of die-hard procrastinator that keeps self helpers awake at night, my plan was to schedule these blog hops while away.   Petting a young kangaroo at the Peel Zoo. Oh, the cuteness! It turns out, however, that wireless internet is a completely different animal on the other side of the world. I was sure the hotels we stayed in had advertised free wi-fi. At the very least, the Sydney International Airport would have it, especially since most airlines require you to arrive a ridiculous 3 hours before an international flight. Nope. But enough about that. Now...

Getting Into Trouble Down Under

$50 tickets! I wasn't sure how the "limited view" seats on the sides of the Sydney Opera House would do, but they were fine. My advice for next time would be to choose the corner seats, even if it means not sitting side by side with your group, and to go for further back on the lower row. The photo below was taken from my seat at the Sydney Opera House before the show...right before the usher scolded me for breaking the no photos rule (and right before Sexy Nerd said "I told you so"). See the orchestra? The stage pulls back at the start of the show and after intermission and you can see everyone. Worth it.

Jet-Lagged Like Crazy

We just returned from Australia. Over 34 hours traveling without sleep = super duper jet lag ridiculousness. I went to bed around 6pm, straight after work (HA! What kind of maniac agrees to come in to work just a few hours after returning from Australia? I'm nuts). I woke up at 9:30am. Still sooooo sleepy. Just wanted to share a quick photo before heading back to work. Way happy that I don't have to go in at my usual time today. While visiting my family in Western Australia, Sexy Nerd insisted I take this photo of him at the Peel Zoo, standing by the "Red-Necked" Wallaby sign. *rolls eyes*

Flooring Ideas

Ever since we purchased our 13.1 acre (gotta get credit for that extra 0.1 acre!) lot outside of Albuquerque last year, Sexy Nerd and I have devoted most of our free time to planning our mountain dream home. We cannot make a decision about a nything . At this point, it seems our best option would be to build a row of townhomes , each in a completely different style. On Monday, we would live in our colorful Victorian home, and later in the week we could switch things up in our ultra-contemporary, all concrete house. Since I can't imagine our neighborhood HOA (or our budget) ever allowing such a thing, we really do need to narrow down our list of ideas. Flooring is a tough choice. In our current home, we have premium laminate flooring. It stands up well against our rambunctious dogs, but is easily damaged if you unknowingly drip water onto it and let it sit, like by the dog's water bowl and the dishwasher.  We also have real wood flooring on our stairs and our bedro